Mi Chico Latino
by Funseeker
Summary: AU, fluff, romance: Susan  lives in 2000s, not in 1940s  visits a wise psychiatrist to find out why it feels wrong kissing home boys. She finds a wardrobe in the office … and finds out that she subconsciously misses Caspian!


**~~~ Mi Chico Latino ~~~**

~AUTHOR'S NOTES~

CHARACTERS: Susan and Caspian, of course! The wise old professor who was a landlord is now also a psychiatrist and hosts his patients at his manor. Mention of Dr. Cornelius.

Happening related to both first two Narnia movies, happens after the end of the movie Prince Caspian, but never mind the timeline, take it as a very disorganised alternative universe, it's my first AU fic: 1) Susan is a modern girl in 2008, not 1940; 2) Susan can go back to Narnia despite being adult; 3) the same dress she wore at the goodbye helps her get into the 'right' Narnian time.

Beach is based on real life beach Stiniva on island Vis in Croatia. (Been there, seen it, but only from a boat, didn't bathe and explore on foot.)

All the motto quotes, as well as the fanfic title, are from song lyrics of _Mi Chico Latino_ by Geri Halliwell.

**~HER ROOM~**

_Donde esta el hombre_

_Con fuego en la sangre_

Susan switched off the alarm clock. Today she couldn't afford being late, for she had an important appointment. But she couldn't help her eye candy addiction and she gazed dreamily at the posters above her bed.

Waking up into charming but shy smile of a handsome Uruguayan football player was the thing that felt the most right about boys. He was the cutest of all the boys in Latin American teams. England doesn't have a bad team at all, but Susan fell for Latino charm ever since she was aware of boys. He was even more handsome than the Spanish tennis star. And certainly more handsome than any homies!

There was a rift between what she wanted and what was on offer. She liked guys from hottest football countries, but she did not like football manners. For some reason, she held dearly to her heart a very different set of manners: gentlemanly ones. She was English and on her island there were swarms of nobility, but not for a working-class girl. She did not want a typical Cinderella scenario.

To deepen the conflict among her interests, something inside her was screaming loudly for equality. A gentleman suitor was out of question, even though her London-based college also hosted some such boys – unless, by some miracle, there suddenly was no class anymore, just classy manners.

Well, yeah, she had considered matters of marriage already. Now she was no longer a 16-year-old loner. Now she was 23, and she wanted boys' company. She certainly has discovered lipstick, stockings, lingerie, etc. And boys have discovered her, too. Only, then it started to feel so lame. All lingerie college life felt so wrong. Not just partying life, also the less important part of college, learning; Susan has never been a brilliant student, but this new lack of motivation was over the top. She found all the topics to study boooooooooring. As if she had been taught ways of the world elsewhere – where she got a much more interesting education of much higher quality.

In short, she had so much to tell her psychiatrist. That is, if she manages to catch the train first.

'Oh, and I also have to record all my favourite telenovella...!' she remembered just in time to adjust the timer on DVD recorder not to miss her guilty pleasures. She told her friends that she liked Zorro and also the lifestyle of the period. She received some strange looks, so she stopped there. The truth was that she was secretly enthusiastic about hacienda lifestyle. The fact that Susan was a member of both, telenovellas' and haciendas' fandom, might send some of her friends in the state of a shock.

**~COUNTRYSIDE MANOR~**

_I've got a secret, I cannot keep it_

_It's just a whisper of a distant memory_

_Just a dream, or so it seems_

_Take me back to the place I'd rather be_

She only took such a long trip to the countryside because she was told the psychiatrist in question was an extra understanding old man, borderlining to a cool, crazy genius. He was said to have an endless horizon for accepting young people's craziest wishes and help them with realisation. This is precious in such an environment where adults usually repress younger people's wishes.

In relief she sat on the couch and stared talking fast, jumping from one topic to another, mentioning all the thoughts that have been racing through her mind that morning. Even the old, wise and understanding psychiatrist had a hard time following. Football boys, Latino lovers, boring homies, classy aristocrats, hacienda owners, ...

'What does that girl want at all?' the psychiatrist stirred his tea and observed the little swirl in the cup, 'Her talking felt like a huge tornado of boys ... Tornado ... She must cross the eye of the storm to be able to face her long lost dreams ...!'

Before he could pose a question, she continued: "Sometimes I think that I have a split personality! Like in three parts-"

"But you know you don't have, right?"

"Yes, but what is it then? Seems like amnesia, but it's very unlikely. Even after I tried out that unfortunate somersault on snowboard, my memory was intact."

"Perhaps your memory is not all so intact."

"Well, for school stuff of course not, but that's because it's boring and I'm not motivated."

"No, I meant more like having to work on a childhood dream you once cherished above all ..."

"What is it?"

"It is your challenge to find that out."

"But – but I can't even remember it! It feels like it's been forgotten for decades, if not for centuries!" Agitated, she got up and crossed the room, where stood a huge old wardrobe.

"If you don't feel ready for searching, take your time, play and relax in the meantime, discover your inner child-"

"Oops, I didn't mean to browse your personal things," Susan jumped in alarm, the door of the wardrobe ajar, "It's just that the wardrobe is so alluring, it has a certain magnetism ...! Ooooh, how many pretty clothes-"

"Easy, it is all-right! The clothes were the very thing I wanted to mention next. See, my visitors sometimes enjoy roleplay to help them revisit their traumas in a playful way."

"You really are a genius."

»Go dress up and cosplay! Everybody needs to play their true selves from time to time, you know,« he winked at her encouragingly.

"Oh, are you serious? This is awesome! Do you by any chance also have an armoury? You know, I have best fun when cosplaying a shield-maiden in a corset at medieval games ...! And, I have a bow and I shoot better than most guys and-"

"Of course I am serious, you can stay here for the next few hours; my next patient prefers walking in the garden anyway."

"Thank you!" Susan beamed with gratitude.

"And no, I don't have an armoury. I do try to encourage a non-violent resolving of conflicts, see."

"Of course, silly me," Susan laughed, "Oh, when talking about silly, it must have been quite hard for you to listen to so much silly talking about boys."

"Hm, it was certainly enough for today," the wise old man chuckled and took part for the meeting in the garden.

**~THE WARDROBE~**

_Stolen moments, time has broken_

_My eyes are open to this life long mystery_

_And so I'll go with what I know_

_Take my chances and run with destiny_

Susan took out of the wardrobe a blue and white dress with golden decorations and tried it on. From the window she saw the psychiatrist walking the garden with the next patient, a young guy in his teens who was obviously hyperactive. Susan was spinning in front of the mirror and admiring her looks, even though her hairstyle was too plain to match the gorgeous dress.

'Let's see, if there are any dresses, prettier than this one!' she ran back to the wardrobe and launched herself among interesting clothes to be explored. She tripped, but instead of falling on a soft, dusty heap, she fell into water. There it was much lighter than inside of a wardrobe. In the water, shades of transparent and turquoise were mixing under dazzling sun. It wasn't English sun – rather the Mediterranean. Susan was well-travelled. She instantly recognised that the air was fresher than Mediterranean: 'Maybe Carnian Alps?'

"Hola, señorita! Do you by any chance require assistance?"

She would have almost responded with her usual, bored 'No, thanks!', but his Spanish accent persuaded her to think before talk. She finally got herself back to her feet and called out in a very dignified way, wet hair hanging over her eyes: "Who is asking?" To her surprise, she wasn't giggling. 'This must be the air,' she thought thankfully, 'I can think so much more clearly here. I missed the Carnian air so much.'

"Don't you recognise me?" a handsome young man asked her in indignation. He looked like her dreamboy which was surely confusing. She stuttered: "Cas-sius?"

"Cas-pian!" Even though his name did not sound fitting for a Latino lover, it was like the best music for her ears.

"Caspian ... I do know you from somewhere, señor," she replied with a radiant smile.

"This is no longer funny, queen Susan."

"I'm a queen?"

"A great one. Queen Susan the Gentle of the radiant southern sun."

"Oh, then it's jolly good to be back," Susan smiled in a confused way, "But how come you know me? I don't know this place ... but, I like it very much, it is magical," she starred around a little round bay that was almost completely surrounded by rocks from the seaside and by tall cliffs from the landside.

He seemed both pleased that she liked the place and angry that she didn't recognise him immediately: "Either you hit your head or you've been on the sun for too long. How could you otherwise forget your teenage flam-friend? It is true, we haven't seen for too many years, but-"

"I think it's more like I've been away for too long. I wanted to come back, but didn't know where to go."

"I wanted to call you back, but my professor Doctor Cornelius discouraged me, saying you were otherwise engaged."

"But I was never engaged – I mean, busy – yes, but not engaged to anyone."

"Great – I mean, great to know that you're coming back to your senses."

"You have no idea how I am coming back," Susan laughed tensely, "But please do tell me about this place. I've never been here for sure, but I admire it with all my heart."

"Um, well, had you been hanging around Narnia a little longer the last time, I'd have shown it to you. It is one of my favourite places."

"You have good taste in beautiful places, Caspian."

"Thank you, Susan."

"Wait a minute? Narnia? Not Carnia?"

"Never mind the name, I'm in love with this place no matter how it is called!" Susan stretched her arms, spinning around and admiring the beauty of the beach – it was a quite unique beach even for Narnian standards for dramatic nature.

"Every Narnian is in love with this place – now imagine how it must feel to rule the entire country!"

"Wow, I can imagine! After all, I've done this before, haven't I?"

"Welcome back to reality, queen Susan."

"Thank you. I will make sure that this stays reality for good."

"How will you accomplish that?"

"Because this time I've not come to help Narnia find peace, but to help me find myself and here I'm my true self like nowhere else."

"It is great to have you back. And I didn't even use the horn to call you."

"My long lost dream was calling me, no need for the horn. Oh, and stop calling me queen. After all, we are teenage frien-flames."

**~THE END~**


End file.
